Chapter 88: Request

"Haaa… Haaa… Haaa…"

Stella breathes heavily as she just drained her Spiritual Energy. She had rested to regain her stamina after running around but she was out of breath again.

Apparently, practicing Spiritual Energy would consume your physical energy too if you're not used to it. 

'If I know that I'll be training my Energy again, I wouldn't have stopped practicing it at all…' Stella thought as she grumbled about how weak she had become. 

"Stella… Tell me about the one that you drank before… I saw you taking it out carefully in your safe box when the cultists attacked." Reiji asked interrupting Stella's thoughts. 

"Ah, Master… Yes, it's a very expensive potion so I had to keep it somewhere safe. I got it from my father before he… left me."

Stella paused as she remembered what happened to her father. 

Reiji noticed that her eyes became teary so he tried to continue the conversation…

"I… I see. You must've treasured it."

"That's right! My father said that I can only sell or drink it if extremely necessary."

"Sell it? How much are you planning to sell it in case you had to?"

"Uhmm… I was told that it can be sold for 150 gold coins."

"Really? Then that's really expensive…"

"Yes… I won't have to worry about my living expenses for more than a year with that money. Ah… It seems that you're aware of the value of money, Master. Do you also use money?"

"What? How will I use them?"

"Right…" Stella replied after she couldn't think of a reason that the Arcana would need money. Anyway, she can only think that her master heard about the value of money to other people. She doesn't even know how long this Arcana was living in their world!

Who knows whether the Arcana has been summoned for more than a decade or even centuries already… It would mean that the Arcana would have plenty of time to learn about the world. 

"Anyway, tell me what you know about the potion."

"Ah, yes… I forgot… The potion was called Aura Domination… My father describes it as a potion that could awaken the dormant Spiritual Energy of anyone. It was said that it was normally being used by individuals who want to become a practitioner."

"What do you mean?"

"Uhmm… Perhaps, it's different for you, master. Since you already have an Arcane Magic when you awakened as a Sentient Arcana. Anyway, it was said that anyone has Spiritual Energy but it was extremely difficult to awaken them. Many lucky individuals like me managed to awaken them without the help of this potion but some needed this as a catalyst."

"I see… Catalyst, huh. Then why did you still drink it even after you awakened your Spiritual Energy?"

"Ahh… It was to further awaken my dormant Spiritual Energy… Although I can no longer use it again, it made my energy capacity larger…"

Reiji asked more about it and understood how the energy pool works… 

He also learned that practicing the energy would become more difficult as one grows older. Just like how it was difficult to summon an Arcana once you surpassed the age of 12. That was why her father left the potion to his daughter as his chance to awaken it would be extremely small and the potion might just be wasted as a result.

In any case, Reji was impressed that Stella's father managed to acquire one since based on Stella's description, they weren't living a luxurious life. 

On the next day, Stella tried looking for a decent wooden sword within the village. Unfortunately, no one sells them anymore as sharp steel sword was more reasonable to purchase in this place. 

"I guess… I'll just have to make one…"

Stella announced after failing to find one in the village. 

'I can even make a steel sword, crafting a wooden sword shouldn't be too much of a trouble.'

In the end, Stella spent her whole day trying to find a good material…

"Hey… Just what kind of wood are you looking for?"

Reiji asked the girl after getting bored. He watched her looking around the village for the whole day and she even found a traveling merchant just outside the village but none of the pieces of wood satisfied her.

"I… I can't be satisfied with such a fragile wood… It may just delay our training if I have to repeatedly replace it…"

"It makes sense but… Ahh… It's up to you." Reiji just left her be as he was also curious about how she would make the wooden sword. 

"Are you perhaps looking for an Eternal Tree's branch?"

"Eh? So you know about that, master… Uhmm… Even though I want to acquire one, it's impossible. Any parts of the Eternal Tree, whether it was leaves, fruits, branches, or even roots were very expensive. After all, only the Orcs were using them. You'll have to defeat one Orc Chieftain or one with a higher rank to even have a chance to get such precious wood… It was no wonder that they're expensive…"

"Yes… I heard something similar. So, what kind of wood are you looking for?"

"Uhmm… I'm looking for at least a branch of a Beacon Tree, but it seems that all of them were already bought by someone else… Sigh~"

"Beacon Tree?"

"Yes, it's the tallest tree within the Wailing Forest… Ah… The Wailing Forest is the forest beside our village."

"Oh? Really?"

Reiji was surprised to hear that the tree where he completed his last Untouchable mission was something valuable.

"What's special about this tree?"

"Err… Let's see… Its wood is a good conductor of Spiritual Energy. Although we can transfer our Energy to any materials or weapons to temporarily strengthen them, their lifespan would easily deteriorate once they were used without being supported by the Energy again…"

'You mean Durability?' Reiji added in his thoughts as somehow understood how the law of Spiritual Energy works.

'Ahh… I still have a beast core hidden somewhere near that place…'

Reiji suddenly remembered his fight against an Evil Beast… It was the unlucky Black Armored Ape that he ambushed after Orga left it exhausted and heavily injured. 

He then glanced at Stella again and examined her.

'Mhmm… Probably after a month of practice, we can try going there.' Reiji thought as he makes a plan for the girl.

'Ah... wait...'

"How about you hire some Hunters to get them for you?" Reiji suggested to the girl who was now lost in thought…

"Oh! That's a good idea. I never visited a Hunter Association before so I didn't think about it. You're really knowledgeable, master…"

Stella's respect for her Master increased even more as it seems that he truly knows how this world works.

"I will go there now, Master…"

The Hunter Association's building wasn't hard to find as it was the largest building in the western part of the village. Traces of battle can still be seen but they can still be ignored. After all, the most damaged part of the village was the eastern and central area where most of the battles occurred. 

A melodious chime was heard after Stella opened the door of the building. 

Stella entered the Association's building and noticed that it was almost empty. There are only two middle-aged men looking around the mission board and a beautiful receptionist reading papers on her table. 

As soon as she arrived, everyone just glanced at her before continuing whatever they were doing. 

Stella approached the beautiful receptionist and before she could even speak, the brown-haired lady smiled and greeted her.

"Hello, Stella… How may I help you?" The receptionist said as she set aside the papers she was reading a moment ago.

"You know me?" Stella asked in surprise. She can't remember meeting her before. She thought that such a beautiful and fair-skinned lady in front of her wouldn't be hard to forget if she met her even once…

"Of course… You may not remember but I was with the group you protected… You saved us… How can I forget you?" The receptionist answered as she smiled brightly at her.

"Ah… Right…" Stella was unable to remember her at all as she smiled wryly. She was also not the one who saved them but her master, so she felt a little awkward about her gratitude.

She quickly changed the topic and explained her reason for coming to the Association.

"So you want to hire Hunters to get some branches of Beacon Tree enough to make a couple of wooden swords?"

"Yes..."

"When will you need it?"

"Uhhmm... As soon as possible…"

"Let's see… Since the Hunters can just stealthily take some branches of the tree and not really fight the beasts around there, you can still hire them for only five gold coins. Luckily, we have hunters that have done these missions before."

"Eh? It's expensive? But a wood with the size of an adult's arm from that tree can be bought for only 50 to 60 silver coins…"

The receptionist smiled at her and explained how dangerous this mission can be.